1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the improvement of customer service in restaurants and for other on site services.
2. Background of the Invention
Often times, patrons in a restaurant require service to change their order, refill their drink or for some other need requiring assistance. Getting the server""s attention can be a challenge in some modern restaurants. Visibility, noise and other factors often impair the ability of patrons to get the assistance they may need in a timely fashion.
In the past, some restaurants implemented a service call system by installing a lamp or bell at each dining table. One system used a lamp installed on each table. If patrons need service, they could turn the lamp on at their table to indicate to the server that something was needed. The server would then go to the table and assist the patrons. While this method of calling for service was effective at that restaurant, it is impractical in most modern, upscale restaurants due to visibility and privacy issues. Additionally, the problem of installing wiring to each table to power the lamp is not practical in many modern restaurant facilities.
In a system, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,366,196, a wireless waiter paging system included a plurality of table transmitters which transmitted a xe2x80x9cwaiter callxe2x80x9d signal, a central unit which received the xe2x80x9cwaiter callxe2x80x9d signal from the table transmitter and relayed the xe2x80x9cwaiter callxe2x80x9d signal, and a plurality of waiter pager units, associated with a set of tables, which receive the xe2x80x9cwaiter callxe2x80x9d signal from the central unit. The pager unit notifies the waiter via a vibrator or buzzer that a request has been received and displays the request. In a second embodiment, there is no central unit. Rather, the waiter pager units receive the xe2x80x9cwaiter callxe2x80x9d signal directly from the table transmitters.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,090 shows a communication apparatus, as used in hospitality establishments such as restaurants or the like, comprising a network of transmitters and receivers communicating with each other by means of UHF radio frequency signals. Each transmitter is linked to one or more associated receivers and can be individually activated to transmit a selected one of a number of different predetermined messages to its associate receivers along a corresponding communication channel. Each transmitter is placed in an active state by means of a respective message selector, which enables a user thereof to select the predetermined message to be transmitted by the transmitter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,798 shows a restaurant transaction processing system and method which includes portable computing devices and which employs cordless telephone transceivers for wirelessly transmitting orders.
However, while improving customer communications and organization of services, these devices are not designed to assist restaurant customers when they have need for service, while, at the same time, assisting management by providing direct oversight of on-site operations, interactive communications with the customers, or tracking calls from customers and providing statistical information about the cost efficiency of the operation.
The deficiencies described above are solved by the invention, as disclosed herein, that is designed to be easily installed in any restaurant or on-site service environment, either at the time of new construction or after the restaurant has opened for business. It has as its objectives, elimination of direct line of sight for communication between a server and table or the installation of wiring. It provides a means for management to see and track the number and types of calls for service, allowing improvements to be made and helping to prevent dissatisfied customers from leaving the restaurant without the manager being aware that there has been a problem.
The invention is described as an Interactive Communication and Data Processing System for Restaurant Services, comprising hardware and software components and operates as a system for calling for service, in a hospitality setting, such as for example in restaurants.
The System is designed for operation in a restaurant environment or other on-site service environment to assist customers when they have need for service. It also assists management by tracking calls from customers and providing statistical information about the timeliness or cost efficiency of services rendered. It is designed to be easily installed in any restaurant environment, either at the time of new construction or after the restaurant has opened for business.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as disclosed according to its inventive principals, the invention comprises a data processing system, using hardware and software components as may be commercially available. However, the inventive principles are not limited to currently available technology but may be used with any interactive communication and data processing technology now in use or which may be developed for processing any form of information in a form translated or translated from a human perceptible form into a form which can be processed electronically or by means of light or other means now in existence or hereafter developed, for processing and transmission and for translation back into human perceptible form.
The inventive system employs a plurality of customer call units, placed around the service area, for example on the diner""s respective tables. Each call unit includes a transmitter for interactive communication with the portable response units carried by servers. The communication may be by radio frequency as disclosed for a preferred embodiment or any other means of remote communication now or hereafter developed. With the call units and the portable response units, the system employs as a base station, a central processing unit and may include a smaller unit such as for example a notebook or other computer device which may be used to access and copy the base station stored information and for processing the information.
In a preferred embodiment, as shown and described, the system comprised of the data processing unit, the call units, the portable response units, a unit allocated to a food processing area or other service area, and the central processing unit or base station, are assembled using available data processing and communications hardware and software programs, as would be known by those skilled in the art. However, the disclosed principals of the invention are not limited by state of the art communications devices or techniques or computer processing devices and operating software, but extend to any device now or hereafter conceived or reduced to practice and which performs the functions and methods of the disclosed inventive principles.
The inventive system operates responsively to a request for service. The service request from the call unit is transmitted directly to a server response unit or to the central unit, which responsively processes the request to produce a signal, such as for example, as shown in the disclosed preferred embodiment, an indication on the central unit display or on a response unit display, identifying the call unit or table unit transmitting the request. A server response then may be transmitted from the base unit, or from the portable response unit, which may be carried by the server or placed at a convenient location. The response may be to acknowledge the call, with the server being able to transmit a separate message responsive to the call unit message and providing an answer to the call unit request. The call unit and the response unit to indicate the call is acknowledged. Each of the units operates to clear the messages once the responsive messages have been transmitted and received.
The central part of the system is the base unit which is used to monitor and manages the communication between the table call units, server response units and any external computing or data processing device. However, as would be understood by those skilled in the art, the functions of the central base station unit or a data processing unit for processing the data received or collected in the central unit is not essential to the practice of this invention as, and as would be known to those skilled in the art, the functions of the central base station unit may be distributed to one or more of the computer processes used in the total system, without departing from the principles of the disclosed invention.
The system operates according to the disclosed inventive principles, by processing each call or request and response to produce information about the restaurant operation which may be stored for access and use by management to analyze restaurant operation, over the long term or to correct any immediate or short term situations in the real time operation of the services, such as a neglectful waiter, or misdirected food orders.
Each of the call units may be preprogrammed with standard messages or may contain a key pad or voice actuated software, permitting the customer to encode a custom message for transmission and display at the base or server response units, as would be known to those skilled in the art of text messaging.
According to a preferred embodiment, as disclosed herein, the system software includes error correction functionality, as would be known to those skilled in the art, to eliminate lost or garbled transmissions or displayed information from the processed data.
The data transfer to another data processing computer, whether located in proximity to the system or distributed through a wide area network to a remote location, may be stored and then processed by a statistical data processing program to compile statistically ordered data related to key functions of the restaurant operation.
The system may be assembled from known and available components, as would be known to those skilled in the art. The wireless connection between each of the SNS units may be by an RF link using TDMA (Time Division Multiplexed Addressing), allowing one time slot for each call unit and permitting the separate identification of each call unit. In a preferred embodiment, and without limiting the principles of the disclosed invention, up to 250 SNS call units may be placed throughout the restaurant, one per table. It may be a stand-alone device, or designed in such a way as to be physically a part of the table or a service connected device on the table such as for example, condiments tray.
Additionally, each call unit software program will be arranged to generate a unique identifier, which will, with its assigned time slot, identify the table call unit for the base unit and server response unit.
Some of the benefits achieved by the disclosed system are, Customer Benefits: Immediate initial recognition of presence and initial service; More efficient service; Quicker service; Instantaneous medium to summon server; Instantaneous medium to place orders, change orders, request specific items and/or services without having to speak directly to a server; Real time immediate notification of bar orders without the server having to spend time and effort physically turning orders into the bartender with real time response from the bar letting the server know that the drinks are ready to be served; Instantaneous responses to all requests letting customer know that his requests have been noted and are being expediently implemented; Greatly reduce waiting time to pay bill and leave; Enhancement of overall dining experience.
Individual Local Restaurant Benefits: Automated enhancement of ways and means to coax customers to order additional menu items and advise them of daily specials without tying up restaurant personnel; Enhancement of customer satisfaction and contentment; Enhancement of repetitive customer patronage; Reduced turn-around time of table availability; Enhancement of managerial procedures and practices; Enhancement of Operational Procedures and Practices; Instant and/or shared messaging between customers, servers, kitchen, bar, and management; Increased Corporate Sales and Profits through enhanced record keeping and tracking of statistical service; response times, team work (or lack thereof and employee performance data that may be used to improve service, operational procedures, efficiency, cut wasted efforts, cut expenses, and increase sales and profits.
Corporate/Multi-locations Benefits: Enhanced upper-level managerial multi-location data collection capability; Enhancement of Managerial Procedures and Practices; Enhancement of Operational Procedures and Practices: Increased Corporate Sales and Profits; Increased Corporate Sales and Profits through comparisons of all restaurant locations resulting in corporate directives by overseeing and fostering enhanced record keeping and tracking of statistical service, response times, team work (or lack thereof) and employee performance data that may be used to improve service, operational procedures, efficiency, cut wasted efforts, cut expenses, and increase sales and profits.
The features and functions of the disclosed invention according to its disclosed inventive principles are described in the following. As would be understood by those skilled in the art or as described herein, the components for constructing or operating the described system or method are known to those skilled in the art and the particular components, programming or systems constructed, as now known or developed in the future, to practice the disclosed invention, would be known to those skilled in the art and are not to be seen as limiting the disclosed inventive principles.
The disclosed invention is described as an interactive restaurant communication and management system for operation of, and managing the interactive or direct communications between a customer, server, meal processing center, and central base unit, for collecting data of selected functions related to restaurant services, for controlling selected services and for creating a data base record of restaurant operations for data processing and analysis, for overview and improvement of the restaurant operations, comprising, a) first means for enabling interactive communication from a customer location; b) second means for enabling interactive communications with a server; c) third means for operation as a central base unit and for enabling interactive communications; d) the first means including means for selection of a prerecorded message and voice or keyed messages for transmission to the third means central base unit or the second means; e) the third means central base unit including means for recording selected data from respective interactive communications and for analysis of said selected data related to selected operation of restaurant services.
The third means central base unit includes means for selectively controlling the interactive communications to the first means or the second means. The system includes g) a fourth means for enabling interactive communications from a food processing unit. Within the disclosed system according to the disclosed inventive principles, the means for recording selected data, records data indicative of the respective time a location is occupied, or the times of respective service request and of the associated responses, or the number of service requests, or the frequency or times of interactive communications with a respective second means.
The system third means central base unit includes, i) means for comparing recorded selected data with respective standard data indicative of service standards and for displaying an alert signal in response to the comparison, and the means for recording selected data, records data indicative of the respective time a location is occupied, or the times of respective service request and of the responses, or the number of service requests, or the frequency or times of interactive communications with a respective second means, or the recorded data is indicative of the time duration a table is occupied by a customer and the respective standard data is indicative of a maximum time for table use or turnover, or the recorded data is indicative of call to the second means and the respective response time from the second means and the respective standard data is indicative of a maximum response time, or the recorded data is indicative of time of customer ordering of respective customer items and time of delivery of the respective customer items and the respective standard data is indicative of a maximum delivery time.
The system, according to the disclosed inventive principles may record as selected data, data indicative of separate food preparation instructions or options in the preparation of food items, selected by respective customers and the system may include a fourth means for enabling interactive communications from a food processing unit with the first or second or third means and for communicating with the first means at a respective customer location, information relevant to the separate food preparation instructions or options.
The system may include for a wide area network, the means for a wide area network for connecting a plurality of the third means central units displaced from each other at respective remote locations for data transfer from the plurality of remotely located central base units to a area wide central processing unit for processing of recorded data. Within the wide area network, the third means central base unit includes means for recording in data, indicative standards for selected time, billing or kinds of food items ordered, means for recording real time data indicative of respective time, billing or kinds of food items ordered, by respective customer location or server, and for comparison of the parameters to the real time data and producing data indicative of the comparison.
Described according to the disclosed inventive principles and as a separate system, is a wide area network restaurant communication and control system for data collection and analysis by a wide area base central processing unit connected in the wide area network to separate respective restaurant locations, of data recorded from the operation of interactive communications between a customer communications unit, a server communications unit, a meal processing center communications unit, or a central management unit, by a respective central base unit at the respective restaurant locations, and for creating a data base record of wide area restaurant operations and for data processing and analysis for overview and improvement of the wide area restaurant operations. As would be understood by those skilled in the art, the wide area network may include a) first means for central wide area data processing for the wide area network for storing recorded data from a plurality of separate respective restaurant locations, indicative of the respective times a location is occupied, or the times of respective service request and of the associated responses, or the number of service requests, or the frequency or times of interactive communications with a respective server unit or food processing unit; b) the first means including means for storing as data, standards for respective times a location is occupied, or the times of respective service requests and of the associated responses, or the number of service requests, or the frequency or times of interactive communications with a respective the server unit or with a respective the food processing unit, for a plurality of separate respective restaurant locations; c) the first means including third means for comparing a data set comprising the data from the recorded data for at least a plurality of selected respective restaurant locations with at least one of the standards and for producing data indicative of the comparison.
Within the wide area network, as disclosed and without limiting the disclosed inventive principles, the first means stores as recorded data, data indicative of the time duration a table is occupied at the separated respective restaurant locations and the means for storing as data, stores standards for the time duration a table is occupied by a customer and the third means for comparing, compares a data set for at least a plurality of the separate respective restaurant locations with at least one the standard for producing data indicative of the comparison. As a disclosed part of the wide area network, the first means for wide area data processing includes data base means for storing data indicative of selected indicia of restaurant operations and for arranging the data for comparison with data indicative of standards for separate respective restaurant locations, by time, or location, or climate parameters, or type of restaurant, or customer data.
The interactive restaurant communication and control system, operates by a) enabling interactive communication from a customer unit; b) enabling interactive communications with a server unit; c) establishing interactive communication with a central base unit; d) selection of a prerecorded message and voice or keyed messages for transmission between the customer unit, the central base unit or the server unit; e) recording selected data from respective communications; f) analyzing the selected data for management of restaurant services, and the step of analyzing includes the step of comparing a selected set of the selected data with operating standards stored as data and producing data indicative of the comparison.
These and other benefits of the disclosed invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following description of the invention along with the accompanying drawings.